Following Olive Footprints in Argentina

SEARLES PS; ROUSSEAUX MC; LADUX JL; TRENTACOSTE E; ARJONA C; COLICA J; MATIAS C; BUENO L; VITA SERMAN F

Following Olive Footprints (Olea europaea L.) - Cultivation and Culture, Folk and History, Traditions and Uses

International Society for Horticultural Science

Lugar: Cordoba; Año: 2012; p. 13 - 23

Olive production has a long history in Argentina. Most evidence suggests that cuttings were brought from Sevilla, Spain to South America as early as the 1520´s. Cuttings probably reached Argentina from either Perú or Chile at about this time via one or more of the passes in the Andes Mountains. Even today, most of Argentina´s production is located in the arid and semi-arid mountain valleys alongside the Andean range, stretching from Catamarca in the North to Mendoza in the South. Currently, there are about 110,000 ha under cultivation. The cultivar Arauco  is the only cultivar recognized from Argentina in the World Catalogue of Olive Varieties. It is most likely that Arauco was selected during colonial times from the progeny of cuttings sent initially from Spain, and is similar to Azapa  in Chile and Sevillana in Perú. Consumption of table olives and olive oil is fairly low in Argentina as a whole with only about 400 g of table olives and 150 g of olive oil consumed annually per capita. In Aimogasta, La Rioja, the "Olivo Cuatricentenario", a 400 year-old olive tree, is a popular tourist site. In Andagalá, Catamarca, the rival Huasán Centennial Olive Tree can be visited as well as an associated factory, which still uses traditional oil extraction methods.